Blog

2016 Legislative Accomplishments

Posted on by Ross

The 2016 State of Tennessee legislative session is coming to a close. The TN Scrap Recyclers Association (TSRA) had a successful year passing the following 3 bills.

1. SB 2134/HB2339 by Sen. Bailey and Rep. Calfee is a clean-up bill from our legislation last year. The legislation ensures that scrap metal dealers and dismantlers that handle vehicles pay the one-time $500 fee to pay for a system to track salvaged vehicles. The fee sunsets in 2017
SB2134 / HB2339

2. SB 2228/HB 2169 by Sen. Sutherland and Rep. Hawk amends the definition of “liable party” in Tennessee’s Hazardous Waste Management Act of 1983 to exempt any person excluded from liability under the Superfund Recycling Equity Act. This legislation places the liability on the polluter only.
SB2228 / HB2169

3. SB 2471/HB 2473 by Sen. Bowling and Rep. Judd Matheny clarifies in the law that a motor vehicle dealer’s license is not required for a person to sell a motor vehicle to a licensed motor vehicle dismantler and recycler, a scrap metal dealer, or a scrap metal processor if such vehicle is being sold for recycling, dismantling, or scrap and if the vehicle has been signaled by the seller as a non-repairable vehicle. This puts into law what is already common practice in the industry.
SB2471 / HB2473

We also monitored and tracked other bills of interest to the scrap metal industry. We were successful in beating back other bills that were harmful to the industry. In total, we traced 22 bills on interest to the industry.

2016 Day on the Hill Summary

Posted on by Ross

TSRA Day on the Hill 2016
Day on the Hill this year was a success. Our entire group participated in meetings with Speaker Harwell, Lt. Governor Ramsey, and a few Representatives from the Department of Commerce and Insurance. Mrs. Kim Adkins and Mr. Steve Buttry set each company represented up with one-on-one meetings with legislators from their area. For lunch, we were invited by Representative Judd Matheny to the Warren County Bologna Day lunch.
At our lunch, we were able to meet with some Representatives from the Dept. of Commerce and Insurance. They provided an update on the happenings of their inspections. They stated that they had concluded all inspections and that all scrap metal dealers had been inspected by December 2015. A few of our members relayed companies that they knew of that had not yet been inspected. These company names were noted, and they asked that the members email any information on them that they might have. Secondly, we discussed with the Dept. of Commerce and Insurance that we would help to provide a consolidated list of the metal items most commonly purchased at our yards. I will be getting this list typed up, and sent to Kim. Lastly, the scrap dealer licenses were discussed. A few concerns were addressed with these. The company names not being listed on the license, and also the licenses being mailed to the individual’s home, instead of the company. The question was whether the individual would still be able to act as a “dealer” if they left the company, due to the company not being listed. They said they would be in review of this, but to make sure we were filling each part of the license registration out correctly.

Day on the Hill, March 8th

Posted on by Ross

All Members are invited to meet March 8th for our Day on the Hill with State Representatives.  This is one our most important days as we unite together for one voice to our state officials.  We have scheduled meetings throughout the day with many Representatives.  Topics to discuss are current changes to laws/regulations that affect our industry.

Please join us at 8:30AM at the cafeteria inside Legislative Plaza.  We will break out from there to separate meetings.  Please confirm your attendance to Brad Thompson [email protected].